Growing up, my family always referred to grilled cheese sandwiches by a different name.

I’m not really sure why or how it got started, but in my household, they were called toasted cheese sandwiches. It wasn’t until college that I was informed I’d been labeling this all-American favorite incorrectly for more than half my life. As if that weren’t traumatic enough, I just learned that I’ve been making them improperly for my entire life, too!

So to save you readers from that cheese-filled heartache, I’m going to share this chef’s secret with you. As it turns out, cheese doesn’t just belong inside of these sandwiches.

Feel free to share the trick with all of your friends! (Or just keep this mastery to yourself.)